Sometimes I wonder if they're putting us on . . .

I tend to frequent LetsRun.com, which is a great site for all sorts of running information. The site has the best forum in the virtual world despite being testosterone fueled. While it attracts a certain percentage of jerks, always posting anonymously, it has a deep well of knowledge, too.

The questions posed can be thoughtful, interesting, and occasionally, inflammatory.  Or today, just flat out weird.

There is a very good chance my daughter will qualify for the upcoming state meet. However, her coaches consistently subtly undermine her confidence because they don't like her. They claim she is not very friendly to them... which is true because it is her way to protect herself from getting picked on.

I don't want drama, but if she does make it to the state meet (and the team doesn't), then I DO NOT want the coaches working with her alone for the week before the state meet. I also do not want her to have to ride over to the state meet with the coach(es). If I talked with the coaches in a straightforward fashion about this, I am pretty sure they would perceive me as being a difficult parent, and I think they would make things difficult.

What ironclad excuse could I use to meet my objective of not allowing interaction between the coach(es) and my child, and yet avoid other difficulties (like the coach trying to keep her from running at the meet)?

I really don't know what to make of this. Maybe because we have such good relationships with the parents of our kids, we don't see what happens elsewhere. Except I don't see any signs of it at any of our meets with other teams either. 

The deeper you get into this particular post, the odder it gets. 

Every coach gets the occasional odd or over-involved parent - Tim Gundy, Asotin's coach might even throw me in that category though I made him a deal - I'd train the girls out of season and deliver them to him healthy. Then I would butt out and cheer from the sidelines during the season.

I have never seen a coach that did not want his athletes to run well, so the idea of intentional sabotage hurts my head. Yet that is what the parent is stating, quite baldly.

His (possible) reason? He, the dad, was a better runner than the coach way back when and the coach is acting out of envy and pettiness.

And my thought? Is this guy for real? I can't help but feel that the guy asking the question is sitting at his computer chortling because he's having fun at everyone's expense. While, of course, besmirching coaches and making parents look like lunatics.

God, I hope we're not going to turn into Little League Baseball.

Anybody got some thoughts? Feel free to post them in the comments (if they work for you - Internet Explorer has problems with this platform.). You can email me too.

Run gently, folks.